Man, Not Machine
by DJ Madcat
Summary: An AU fic. What if people controlled Mother Ships and not computers? This is the POV of one of its commanding officers... I'm not bashing anyone, here. Please Review!!! Kids need lots of those to grow strong!!!


Author's Notes: I got the idea when I read the fic my cousin, Fizzy 13, posted a few months ago, 'Of Mechs and of Dreads' or something like that. What if humans and not computers controlled Mother Ships? What then about the commander of the first mother ship Nirvana destroyed? This is a one shot, so don't expect any other chapters. Oh, and by the way… this is a POV and AU fic that doesn't have such a pleasant ending for Nirvana and company fans!!! I'm not bashing it, though… One more thing: since this is from an Earth POV, names of Vandreads will differ from the ones we know. Please review this one! My life runs on them! Also if you can, please give a full critique of my work, like pointing out mistakes and possible improvements, hell, even question my concept for all I care! Just review!!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Vandread, so don't sue me. Even if you do, your actions will be fruitless since I'm just a kid!

Man, Not Machine A story by DJ Madcat 

Admiral's Log, EHS Trident, Final Recording of Operation Hunter-Killer

Saturday, 1936 hours, Earth Standard Time…

The purple vessel born from Earth chased the small bluish ship to the green, gaseous planet, hordes of pods, cubes, and spike balls following at its sides. I reclined in the command chair, observing our enemy cower from us. It was obvious that it has been the first time a pirate group such as them had seen such a massive vessel with such firepower. _Insects…_

            "Sir," one of the technicians spoke out, "The enemy has entered the planet's atmosphere. We cannot follow suit, however, due to the extremely hazardous gasses in its clouds." 

            "Admiral," another barked, "We've lost another Carrier and the Doppelganger of Dread/Vanguard hybrid type two, 'Supersonic' to the atmosphere. I think the computers need to be reprogrammed."

            "What difference does one Carrier make anyway?" I snapped back, "What should really be given attention to are the Doppelgangers!"  
  


            "Yes sir."

            I sighed. This was going to be a long day. Clearly this threat had to be erased, both for my dignity as an officer's sake, and for the success of harvest. All of us wanted a good night's rest, which we haven't had since this threat was first detected. I've been having dreams, lately, about the pilots who have been in command of those strange machines. Their identities have already been catalogued ever since the Earth-cam spy probes got close up pictures of them. The only male in the group was a first generation reject by the name of Hibiki Tokai, son of Tarak's and Mejeele's leaders, 'Grandma', and 'Grandpa'. I couldn't remember their real names, though. Brash, yet cunning, he was the greatest threat to my operation.

            The pilot of the Dread required to form Dread/Vanguard hybrid type one, 'Seth Junior' (note that Seth is the Egyptian God of Destruction), was a Mejeelian Third Generation kid by the name of Dita Liebely, a red head. She's kind of cute, but then again, too childish for my taste; too young, too.

            The pilot of Dread/Vanguard hybrid type three, 'Phalanx' (note that a Phalanx was the protector of the ancient armies, loaded with a nearly impenetrable shield), was a Third Generation Blonde named Jura Basil Elden. Although she's 20 Earth years old already, from Earth-cams' observation, she acts at least a decade younger! She also looks too slut-like—jugs are too big, too much lipstick, clothes designed to reveal a lot—definitely not my type!

            Finally, there was the most mature of them. She was the pilot whose Dread was responsible for D/V hybrid type two, 'Supersonic'. Meia Gisborn, a 19-year-old Third Generation grouch. We don't exactly know too much about her, though, so all I could say was that. I just know, however, that someday, these four are going to cause Earth's downfall unless I stop them!

            That was the very reason why I volunteered for this mission in the first place—to rid Operation Harvest of the likes of them—the sooner, the better. I stare at the planet's statistics, checking out its atmospheric structure… I smiled, _Good, they won't last long in there._ The gasses in the atmosphere, mostly hydrogen, stuff needed for star birth, were going to cause a pressure increase, which in turn would blow Nirvana to kingdom come. Checking the stellar evolution chart, I realized that this ball was not a planet at all, but a star nearing birth point. Another thousand years should do it.

            I reminisced the times when I was happy, attending parties dedicated to the success of the current harvest operation. The latest was held a few hours ago, just after defeating, no, obliterating that Meranos patrol group, completely. Their government was foolish enough to even attempt to defy us. Serves them right to lose so many lives.

            Why did people resist their destinies? Didn't they want to become part of the greatness we are making? Stories were spread out probably to scare them into resisting the harvest. I'm definitely going to find out who did that and beat the crap out of him… or her.

            Tapping my order on the console of the 'Robo-Bar' as they called it, I opened my eyes to see what I have ordered this time. You see, I have this very bad habit of tapping on random buttons, in turn, summoning random drinks, and it really worked out since I like many kinds of liquor, although I won't start enumerating… I had ordered one of my favorites, Swedish Vodka. It wasn't like the Russian kind that was too laden with alcohol, but a little lighter, and more original in its formula.

            "Sir, why are you drinking? It's against regulations to do so." My first mate notified me.

            I looked at the green haired 15-year-old. She was artificially bred to become an excellent adjutant, obedient, and strict with the regulations. Sometimes too strict… although I couldn't say the same for her fashion… she dresses in whatever she finds in the stores…right now, in fact, she was wearing a purple jumpsuit, had her hair in a pony tail, and several other add-ons I need not mention.

            "Listen, Myra." I answered, "It's just a little Vodka, and Swedish, too. I won't get drunk, or anything. Besides, I don't need to do anything about them anymore. The Star's atmosphere will more than surely destroy them within half an hour's time." 

            Alas, to my disappointment, which is always the case with her, Myra simply shook her head in disgust at my actions. "What did I say?" she remained silent, refusing to answer my question…

            Exasperated, I stood up and headed for my quarters just in the hallway outside the bridge. Just before leaving, however, I turned to her, saying, "Myra, for the time being, you're in charge."

            She looked back at me with her usual concern for my treatment of the rules, acknowledging my earlier command, "Of course, my good Admiral."

***

            I lay down on my bed, tired and weary of the events. As I closed my eyes, a vision clouded my thoughts. I was standing on the bridge, giving the order to fire the main gun, the respective crewmembers getting to work while the weapon prepared to fire. Speeding in our direction up ahead was D/V hybrid type one, its plasma spear ignited by the verdant gasses of the young star, ready to it toss at us. 

The main gun unleashed its own deadly plasma blast and collided with the launched spear, stopping at a standoff between the two projectiles. The latter seemed to be winning, though. I tensed as I saw it push the bright yellow discharge back at us. By the time it collided with the ship, a greenish light blinded me…

I woke up suddenly, jumping out bed, at the sound of the transmission, "Admiral, we're getting some activity from the Nirvana. I think you'd better come see this."

"I'm on my way," I replied as I glanced at the watch: 7:56 PM, twenty minutes have passed… forgetting about that dream, I proceeded to the bathroom, splashing water on my face from the sink. Feeling better from then, I dressed and moved over to the bridge.

***

            "What's going on?" I asked as I pass through the sliding door. The spectacle that greeted me was somewhat amusing. D/V hybrid type three was situated at the highest point, probably the North Pole, of the unborn star, its shields raised to maximum as three other dreads, namely Meia's, Dita's, and a third's, fired a continuous stream of lasers at it, which in turn was being absorbed and redirected at the star. 

This odd attempt to blow us up was amusing for a while, but died out later, when even though our Interceptors and Carriers were pummeling them, it continued until the thermo-man said, "Sir! The star's core is reacting to D/V type three's tactics! They're boosting its temperature to achieve fusion! They're rushing the star's birth!"

"WHAT!?" I retorted, "What the hell do you mean!?" Hibiki had separated and now, with the help of Meia, formed D/V type two, the raven-like machine grabbing hold of Dita's dread as they sped away from the detonating star…

"Sir! We've located Nirvana. It's headed outwards from the atmosphere for a nearby asteroid field." The radar man pointed out.

"Send Carriers after them." I replied. My main concern at the moment, was 'Supersonic', carrying Dita's dread in tow, heading straight for us. I noticed then, that the star had been born, the powerful solar flares chasing after the white mecha. That was when I realized their plan according to my dream… the yellow robot had separated from its white partner and joined with the blue fighter.

My eyes widened as the dual plasma cannons on its shoulders came off and straightened to form a double-edged plasma spear just like the one in my dream. It was held to the point where full momentum could be achieved when hurling a javelin, and caught the full force of the solar flare, absorbing three second's worth more as the hybrid threw it at the ship. 

Being the observant, type, I observed that in my dream, I haven't given the order to set the intensity when the main gun fired… with a spark of hope, I gave the command, "Set the main gun to full power, and intercept that projectile with it."

"Aye, sir." Power levels increased rapidly, more than a hundred times that of the average main gun's firepower… it was far more than enough to beat a solar flare, destroy 'Seth Junior', and punch a hole through that star to allow its passage. Temperatures soared way above a hundred trillion as the once yellow ball of energy concentrating at the main gun port darkened to a blinding blue.

"Fire." Out of the weapon erupted a searing blue energy blast, the ship being pushed backward by the recoil. It completely consumed the opposition and continued its flight until it consumed 'Seth Junior' as well. I smiled at the results,_ I was right…_

It didn't stop there, though, a hole was blown through the newborn star as the energy beam passed into it, exiting the other side and flying off into the many places all over the galaxy… _Now for Nirvana…_

            The ray died out, leaving not a single thing that was once there in its wake. "Send everything we've got over there and destroy Nirvana! Leave nothing alive!"

            "Order acknowledged, Admiral." Every single pod in inventory, every available spike ball, everything else we could muster propelled themselves towards that asteroid field where Nirvana had gone. They weren't going to escape anybody, especially me. I was going home to find a big celebration in the iron city, me being their honored guest who destroyed the greatest threat to operation harvest… and no one was stopping me.

            The Trident lurched on, going after what remained of the anti-harvest movement, Earth-cam probes reports updating our knowledge of their whereabouts every second. My heart began to race. The hunt was approaching a climactic close… a close that would be signaled by Nirvana's destruction. We finally caught sight of it. They stopped shortly, probably still trying to contact their fallen friends, unbelieving of and unable to accept the grim truth: their friends were dead… fools. 

            Suddenly, a crimson dread came out of nowhere and headed straight for the bridge. _Jura's…_ was the last thought that crossed my mind, still incomplete as the armored fighter craft collided with the view port, blinding me and the rest of the crew. The ship veered out of control as the bridge was destroyed, the main reactor overloading due to lack of regulation from the main deck. 

The vessel detonated, sending hundreds to thousands of pieces of shrapnel in all directions, some of them harmlessly colliding with asteroids, others destroying Earth's remaining space craft. Still, others destroyed dreads that were too busy fighting to notice the event, Barnette's included, due to the fact that she was overly frustrated and on the brink of insanity due to Jura's sacrifice.

***

            "JURA!" Meia shouted as the scarlet interceptor crashed into the mother ship's bridge. _Baka! That attempt was unnecessary! Why did you do it!?_ They had lost too many lives already, Hibiki and Dita, several other Dread pilots… _I thought I had become strong… where is that strength now? Was it just a fantasy I wanted to fulfill?_ She shook her head irately, tears streaming down her face (pretty unusual and OOC, huh?),_ I have to focus! Keep myself from—_her thought was cut short as a loud explosion lit the battlefield. The mother ship had exploded, hurling countless pieces of debris outwards into space that destroyed everything they collided with. Switching her concentration back to her maneuvering, she had barely evaded an oncoming dread-sized chink of metal that was headed her way when she did. 

Barnette, on the other hand, was not so fortunate… Jura's death was too much to take and she, to put it simply, went wild, launching everything she had in all directions, not giving a damn about what they hit, dread, or pod, or cube, or whatever. She just didn't care about it anymore. She was so engrossed with vengeance on her mind, however, that she did not notice the large support beam headed straight for her until it was too late…

            Meia, being the kind of person who knew when to retreat, turned tails and set her dread to full throttle towards Nirvana. _This fight was fruitless._ _We didn't expect the Earth to be so powerful… I myself was convinced that Hibiki's plan was good enough. I guess we were wrong… we were all wrong._

            What worried her the most, however, was the still considerably large object that remained after the mother ship's explosion. Whatever it was, it was headed in Nirvana's direction, and fast!  
  


***

            I smiled at the outcome of events… never before had anybody attempted such a foolish thing as to ram a mother ship directly, although in case that happened, Pexis was always a thought ahead. It had created our vessels with a fail-safe system that warp-transported all crewmembers onto a battleship stored inside. It was small, although not the size of a Carrier, but more than enough to destroy something with the likes of Nirvana in its current situation. The computer had accounted all remaining enemy fighters… _Just one left._ This was definitely the end of the hunt.

            "Admiral, Nirvana is in sight!"

            "Destroy it."

            "We have a problem, sir." A techie announced, the troubled expression on his face saying that whatever the problem was, it was grave.

            "Well, what is it?" I asked, him. I didn't like problems, and wanted to know about them sooner, so that they could be solved sooner.

            "All of the weapon systems have been damaged beyond repair during the blast. We won't be able to use them at all. Plus," he added, "The control device has also been destroyed. There's no way we can control the rest of the fleet."

            "Damn!"

            "There is a way to utilize these problems and turn the tides." Myra butted in.

            "And what might that be, adjutant?" I inquired of the girl at my side.

            "Setting a collision course with Nirvana and overloading the main gun would cause an explosion powerful enough to destroy Nirvana… at the cost of our lives." Her face turned solemn, "Still, one person would be enough to do this operation."

            "I'll do it." I said, "I volunteered to destroy Nirvana during this operation and I'm going to succeed in doing so, even if it kills me."

            "Admiral…" Myra couldn't believe what she was hearing. I've always been like a father to her, due to the fact that I was the first person she saw who didn't stick a syringe up her ass and several other lab contraptions to test her efficiency as an adjutant. I was also the one who had raised her. I knew this decision would make her feel terrible, but it was for hers and Earth's sake.

            "I know this is going to be harsh on you," I stared into her purple eyes, "But I just can't let any harm come to any of you. I joined the Admiralty taking an oath to protect all of my crew, even at the cost of my life."

            She looked back at me with that young face full of now outpouring love, tears beginning to well up in her eyes and said, "I can't let you do that." The tears began to streak down her cheeks as she whispered, "I'm sorry," before she sent a hard right straight into my solar plexus, reached for the beam gun in my holster, and pointed it at me. 

            "What's the meaning of this, Myra!? Have you gone mad!? This is mutiny!" I barked, collapsing onto the floor. 

            "No, this isn't," she said, tears still going down her gloomy face, "This is for your own good. Isn't that what adjutants are for? All of you get out of here now and head back to Earth! I'll do it." None of us could refuse her, because she was holding me to gunpoint. I tried to protest, but several shots hitting the ceiling told me to just forget about it. One of my aides helped me up.

            As nearly all of us left the bridge, I, clutching my injured trunk, stopped to say, "You're a very brave woman, Myra. You're helping with the success of operation harvest. I'm proud of you."

            She smiled faintly, waving the gun in front of me as she replied, "Wouldn't you do the same if you weren't injured and held at gunpoint?"

            "Myra, I would do the same under any circumstance, except the kind where the adjutant is too persistent to be stopped." I smiled back, "For the Earth."

            "For the Earth," she repeated as I left.

***

            I stared out of the window at the battleship that headed straight for Nirvana, the last of its dreads having collided with it in an insane attempt to stop Myra's first, and last, shining moment.

            I watched carefully as it crashed into the pirate ship, destroying everybody that even thought they might win this yet. _Myra, your sacrifice would be honored…_ sure, I was going home a hero, a small time hero at that, was going to receive a medal, attending that party I had expected to be held in my honor, all that hooey to make heroes look good. In reality, though, none of that really matters. None of that will. All that would really matter to me, was a certain green haired girl who for even a few months of her time with me, made my life a little better than what it had been before… this is Admiral Dosser IV, signing off… by the way, I don't dream anymore.

Author's Notes: Okay, so this was crappy, I know. One part with every single member of Nirvana's crew dying, and the other part with the crappy way I write dramas. I'm no professional, you know. By the way, I just turned twelve today! I'm a whole year older now! Next year is seventh grade, which is rumored to be one hell of a fun ride. Just please review!!!!! In a best-case scenario, you, the reviewer, would have given me my request: a complete critique of my work. In a worst-case scenario, however, you guys would practically flame me off Fanfiction.net! I just hope that you don't! Well, that's just about it! Gotta go! Oh, yeah, before I do, however, please enjoy my post-chapter quote, as always!!!

            "Perhaps freedom is not just doing whatever you want, but having a place to go back to."

                                                --Komyo Sanzo of Saiyuki


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